For enhanced safety, the front and middle seat shoulder belts of the Subaru Ascent have pretensioners to tighten the seatbelts and eliminate dangerous slack in the event of a collision and force limiters to limit the pressure the belts will exert on the passengers. The Honda Pilot doesn’t offer pretensioners for the middle seat belts.
In the past twenty years hundreds of infants and young children have died after being left in vehicles, usually by accident. When turning the vehicle off, drivers of the Ascent are reminded to check the back seat if they opened the rear door before starting out. The Pilot doesn’t offer a back seat reminder.
The Subaru Ascent has a standard driver’s side knee airbag mounted low on the dashboard. The knee airbag helps prevent the driver from sliding under the seatbelts or the main frontal airbag; this keeps the driver better positioned during a collision for maximum protection. A knee airbag also helps keep the legs from striking the dashboard, preventing knee and leg injuries in the case of a serious frontal collision. The Pilot doesn’t offer knee airbags.
The Ascent has standard Whiplash-Reducing Front Seats, which use a specially designed seat to protect the driver and front passenger from whiplash. During a rear-end collision, the Whiplash-Reducing Front Seats system allows the backrest to travel backwards to cushion the occupants and the headrests move forward to prevent neck and spine injuries. The Pilot doesn’t offer a whiplash protection system.
Over 200 people are killed each year when backed over by motor vehicles. The Ascent (except Base) offers optional Reverse Automatic Braking that uses rear sensors to monitor and automatically apply the brakes to prevent a rear collision. The Pilot doesn’t offer backup collision prevention brakes.
To provide maximum traction and stability on all roads, All-Wheel Drive is standard on the Ascent. But it costs extra on the Pilot.
When descending a steep, off-road slope, the Ascent’s standard Hill Descent Control allows you to creep down safely. The Pilot doesn’t offer Hill Descent Control.
Both the Ascent and the Pilot have standard driver and passenger frontal airbags, front side-impact airbags, side-impact head airbags, height adjustable front shoulder belts, plastic fuel tanks, four-wheel antilock brakes, traction control, electronic stability systems to prevent skidding, crash mitigating brakes, daytime running lights, lane departure warning systems, rearview cameras, available blind spot warning systems, rear parking sensors and rear cross-path warning.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does 35 MPH front crash tests on new vehicles. In this test, results indicate that the Subaru Ascent is safer than the Honda Pilot:
|
Ascent |
Pilot |
OVERALL STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
|
Driver |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
Neck Injury Risk |
21% |
28% |
Neck Compression |
8 lbs. |
46 lbs. |
|
Passenger |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
4 Stars |
HIC |
210 |
216 |
Neck Injury Risk |
33% |
35% |
Neck Compression |
156 lbs. |
478 lbs. |
Leg Forces (l/r) |
35/30 lbs. |
478/436 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration does side impact tests on new vehicles. In this test, which crashes the vehicle into a flat barrier at 38.5 MPH and into a post at 20 MPH, results indicate that the Subaru Ascent is safer than the Honda Pilot:
|
Ascent |
Pilot |
|
Front Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
37 |
109 |
Chest Movement |
.5 inches |
.6 inches |
Abdominal Force |
73 G’s |
101 G’s |
|
Rear Seat |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
81 |
233 |
Spine Acceleration |
27 G’s |
42 G’s |
|
Into Pole |
|
STARS |
5 Stars |
5 Stars |
HIC |
149 |
406 |
Hip Force |
637 lbs. |
838 lbs. |
New test not comparable to pre-2011 test results. More stars = Better. Lower test results = Better.
For its top level performance in IIHS driver and passenger-side small overlap frontal, moderate overlap frontal, side impact, roof strength and head restraint tests, its standard vehicle-to-vehicle front crash prevention system, its standard vehicle-to-pedestrian front crash prevention system, and its standard headlight’s “Good” rating, the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety grants the Ascent its highest rating: “Top Pick Plus” for 2021, a rating granted to only 73 vehicles tested by the IIHS. The Pilot last would have qualified as only a standard “Top Pick” for 2019.